Evaluating Collections

Evaluation (Audit) is defined as the process of assessing the value of living accessions (seeds, spores, plants) against specific institutional criteria. It defines the most and least important accessions and helps in budgeting and financial planning. Evaluations are one of the most important roles curators should undertake in their term of office, yet it is rarely conducted.

The concept of evaluating or auditing plant collections has been championed over recent years by BotanicalValues, enabling clients to make informed decisions about the plants they curate and hence, the resources they utilise.

The green leaves in this info graphic represent the relatively small percentage of botanic gardens undertaking plant evaluations. Data obtained from a global survey of botanic gardensClick on the image above to go to my paper on evaluating plant collections published in the Journal of Botanic Garden Horticulture, No. 11

Dr Dave Aplin was responsible for the inclusion of collection evaluation in the Council of Europe’s ‘European Plant Conservation Strategy’.